


Helpless Against You

by darlingkingofhell



Series: Headcanon Heaven [2]
Category: Gladiator (2000)
Genre: F/M, Headcanon, artist!Libera, commodus is a helpless bean sprout, patron!Commodus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-11
Updated: 2020-09-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:49:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26414443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darlingkingofhell/pseuds/darlingkingofhell
Summary: Headcanons for a book-in-progress | Emperor Commodus has obtained his empire but his villa needs an artist’s touch. When he swears he will win over the city’s finest modern artist he doesn’t realize how in over his head he is until it’s too late. 🧿 A story of intense love, deep sensation, and dark mythology
Relationships: Emperor Commodus/Original Characters, Libera (goddess of freedom and fertility)/Commodus, Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus | Emperor Commodus/Original Character(s), lucius aelius aurelius commodus | emperor Commodus/ Libera
Series: Headcanon Heaven [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1919950





	Helpless Against You

✶ They meet at a gallery showing; Commodus “Rome’s Golden Tongue” is struck dumb at the sight in front of him. She could be anywhere from her early 20s to 40s, she moves so self assuredly through her throng of admirers, while they are helpless under her golden charm. Commodus swears his eyes must be playing tricks; she seems to literally glow like pure gold. Even her eyes are an unearthly shade, framed by even more gold, choppy hair. 

✶ She glows golden in an almost lazy way, as though she couldn’t care less how beautiful people thought her, because she already knew for herself. She rested in her beauty, from her clearly self-chopped hair to the way her clothes drifted around her loosely, like it was them adoring her, not her who depended on them for cover. She was marvelous, and unlike any woman Commodus had seen yet. Also unlike the many women who chased him for his attention, she barely spared him an appraising glance.

✶ The artist, Libera, pretends to not even notice Commodus, though there is no missing those broad shoulders and his dark look (like an ocean under a storm). Rather she feigns interest in the rambling praise of her many pursuers. She is one of the most skilled artists in Rome and she doesn’t pretend otherwise. This gallery is an opportunity for the right patron to earn her attention and craft.

✶ Commodus, being very frightening and determined when it suits him, manages to earn both the respect and consideration of this vexing artist. This is how their stories meet.  
(Later on) Commodus takes Libera on a picnic. Libera notices Commodus isn’t very good at savouring. She decides to teach him, using the figs as a tool to hone his tongue. Cue gratuitous fruit-play and oral.

✶ Commodus visits Libera at home one day, expecting a run-down lean-to and finds instead that she lives in a lush villa housed entirely by freed anchilae (slave women). Libera’s rooms are the most decadent he’s ever laid eyes on, peristyle-like, her room is a rainforest of improbable plants given the arid climate. He finds himself lost in this paradise. 

✶ (interlude) Libera had Commodus fuck her while she paints, wanting to capture the erratic motions with color. Commodus finds himself strangely turned on, watching her ignore him (as he’s inside of her), in favor of her work. This makes him all the more determined to get her attention, but no matter what he does, she remains focused (if more vibrant) on her work. He would have been disappointed if she had actually broken her focus for him.

✶ Commodus (wanting more than anything to please Libera), starts to integrate his work to involve public policies such as restructuring the Roman class systems so that poverty is not crippling or a cause for starvation, connecting workers to fair, well-paid jobs and incentivising employers to increase their workforce and care of their workers. Libera is pleased

✶ Libera challenges Commodus to practice his sword-fighting with her standing in place of his dummy, so that he can also practice restraint. When his first few swings are half-assed, she goads him until he finally unleashes his might. She leaves without a scratch and Commodus leaves simultaneously weaker and stronger.


End file.
